October 13, 2008
- Coos Bay / North Bend, Oregon
Local rural fire departments seeking volunteers
By Kristina Nelson
NORTH BAY - Volunteer firefighters are a vital part of rural fire departments across Coos County, but lately, those departments have seen a decrease in their numbers.
That's why a group of rural fire districts in the northern part of the county have joined together hoping to recruit new volunteers. Spearheaded by Charleston Rural Fire Chief Mick Sneddon, seven departments from Lakeside down to Sumner are working together to recruit anywhere from five to 15 volunteers to join the ranks. "One of the biggest things we find that we're competing with is people's time. We find that people just don't have the time anymore that they used to, due to commitments, due to family, due to work," says North Bay Assistant Fire Chief Jim Aldrich. He says the biggest commitment is getting through recruit training, where volunteers learn basic fire skills, after that, people only have to donate one to two hours of their time every week, in addition to going out on the occasional call. "We understand that family comes first, their work comes second, and we come third. So we don't dabble into that family time or work time. They realize, maybe I don't think that I have enough time to volunteer for the fire department, but maybe folks really do, it's just a matter of understanding we just need a little piece of their time," adds Aldrich. Aldrich and Sneddon say anyone can become a volunteer. For more information log onto www.charlestonfire.net or www.northbayfire.com or call your local department. |
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